Stealing Away
by TheEpitomeofSarcasm
Summary: Lady Lily Evans is bored. What does she do? Disguises herself as a boy to board the ship, The Ministry. Everything is absolutely perfect... until Captain James Potter and his pirate crew take over The Ministry. Things start to get... not-so great. AU.
1. The Beginning

**Hello… Guess who abandoned her story 18 months ago and is now back rewriting the whole thing because she thought it sucked? Yeah…**

**I got a lot of reviews telling me to come back and I'd planned to… except since them I've moved countries, had 3 different houses and a new school and stuff… Family deaths… Family births… you name it. It's happened.**

**Anyway, I reread my whole story, thought it was shit, so I've decided to do it again, yay! It will be slightly darker… I was 12 when I first wrote it, I'm 14 now. And there were a bunch of plot holes that I thought I'd straighten out. **

**Happy reading and please don't murder me in my sleep…**

**Stealing Away**

_**The Beginning**_

_16__th__ June, 1668_

_England_

"Oh bugger. Double bugger. This is mad, this is insane…" Lady Lily Evans squirmed at the sight of her reflection in the floor length mirror, twisting this way and that to get a better look at the mess she had gotten herself into.

A member of one of the most prestigious families in England, with direct connections to royalty, seventeen years old and beautiful, Lily Evans was stealing away.

In the past two months, six men had made efforts to court her. Had one been successful, she would be frolicking down the aisle in no time, ready to sign away her name, title and freedom in one big puffy white dress. Hurray. Not forgetting the children she would be expected to bear, bringing them up into the world like proper gentry. Locked inside of her husband's house for all of eternity, forever forced to smile and curtsey and be, ugh, _polite_ and awfully cheery and gossipy. No thank you.

Lily had informed her family in no uncertain terms that should this come to pass, she was likely to shrivel up and die before the wedding cake had been cut.

By family, she meant Charles and Petunia, her two elder siblings, both as different as chalk and cheese. Both Lord and Lady Evans had perished long ago, leaving Charles as the heir to the family name and fortune, to be bestowed upon him on his 21st birthday. This also meant Charles wielded the power to ward off any potential suitors of Lily's and wave them in Petunia's direction – a situation that worked all round, in Lily's opinion. Lily didn't face the prospect of becoming a housewife and having gazillions of children and Petunia was given more chances to rid herself of her "demonic" and "petulant" little sister.

But after being given an ultimatum by some distant uncle or cousin something or other, Lily was either to marry by the time Charles turned 21 next year, or be sent into the country with a distant aunt or cousin something or other over eighty to be guided into spinsterhood.

Lily chose neither.

A sailor's ship had come to port just two days ago and they were in need of a few more crew members.

It had been her maid, Mary, who had inadvertently inspired the thought. After helping Lily to get dressed, Mary had been chattering away as usual, from her beau Ethan, the stable boy, to the local gossip.

"Milady," she had gushed, "You'll never guess what came into the harbour the other day."

"A ship?" Lily had replied sarcastically.

"A ship!" Mary then squealed excitedly, ignoring Lily.

Lily had raised an eyebrow quizzically, "It is a port, Mary. Ships generally do come in."

"Oh, no, milady!" Mary then started blushing, "It was from Lord Cornelius Fudge's fleet – the new political favourite? Can you imagine all those captains and admirals… gosh, I must walk down this afternoon, I cannot miss all the young men! They're even recruiting from what I've heard…"

It seemed Mary had forgotten about Ethan for the moment… but it was Mary's words that set the wheels turning in Lily's head.

"Hey Charles…" Lily had dawdled up to him that afternoon with a slightly manic smile on her face.

"Yes…" he watched her warily, it wasn't the first time she had worn that expression… and most often than not the outcome generally cast shame on the family name.

"Well," she started, "Do you remember that conversation we had last week, when you were doing most of the talking and you said something about… what was it? Breaking necks and tearing limb from limb? Because the male gender? Getting involved with me?"

Charles nodded, "Yes, I seem to recall several conversations of that nature."

Lily beamed, "Well worry no more, brother! I'm escaping this dog eats dog world, this world of the female gender, of being taken advantage of just because I happen to have a lovely pair of breasts _ " here Charles squealed and covered his ears, managing to turn bright red at the same time, "- instead, I shall become… a boy!"

This, of course, lead to another lengthy conversation, concerning Lily and the opposite sex, with added begging from Lily and exasperated reasoning, along with her insistence that she was always right anyway, with supporting evidence…

In the end though, Charles came around after convincing himself that no man would ever touch his precious little sister when she was dressed as a man, unless he was particularly queer and even he doubted the likelihood of that.

Lily had told Mary the day after, needing her help to secure items such as a bag for her belongings and some of Mary's brother's clothes. Although Mary heartily disapproved of Lily "gallivanting on the sea" she agreed to help and keep quiet about it. Mary helped to keep watch over the ship and at night made fun of Lily, giggling and whispering thoughts that most often tied back to the males on the ship. Lily wondered out loud if Mary ever thought of poor Ethan and slyly suggested she make more time for her stable boy. Mary gave her an almighty bruise.

Petunia was kept in the dark, although it was unlikely that she would have cared at all had she known. She was often too preoccupied with a whale… a whale who carried the name Vernon Dursley. Just the sound of him made Lily vomit in her mouth a tiny bit.

Charles handled all the preparations, the clothing, the possibility that something may go wrong… all of this was taken care of in little under a week. After Lily was gone, Charles would raise the alarm that his sister had been kidnapped. Guards would search their home, the whole village would be interrogated and a reward would even be offered for her return, just to make it look realistic. Of course, Lily would be far away at the point, and if she chose to return, she could do so without taking any blame.

The plan, if it had not been too clear up to this point, was to employ Lily as a ship hand on Cornelius Fudge's ship, _The Ministry_, dressed as a boy.

This brings us back to the 16th June, when at precisely 9.43 am, Lady Lily Evans was squirming at the sight of her reflection.

"Bugger, bugger, bugger," she chanted under her breath.

Lily was naturally petite and was not particularly gifted in way of curves or shapes, even with the help of the corsets and dresses she had been forced into… but now… it was like she was a pancake. An extremely poorly made pancake that lacked shape and colour and… well, she looked floppy.

The dull browns of her breeches and tunic blended into one another and Lily vaguely wondered if she should just scrap the ship idea and just lean against walls forever, like a chameleon exercising camouflage. Yes, that sounded wonderful… except for her hair.

Grabbing a handful of it, Lily considered just chopping it off, completing the disguise cleverly put together… but the wild curls that her father had so often compared to fire were a greater part of her than her expensive clothing. But what else could she do? If this plan were to work then she couldn't risk it…

"Lily? Can I come in? Are you… decent?" Charles asked hesitantly from the other side of the door.

Lily snorted slightly and spun round to yank the door open, revealing her blond-haired brother. His eyes widened as he took in her new appearance, inspecting the outfit thoroughly until his face relaxed into his customary smirk and he leaned against the door frame.

"God, Lils… you look awful," and he burst out laughing as though it were the funniest thing on earth.

Lily raised her eyebrows, "Now, now… I could walk around pointing out how stupid your long hair is and how you tried so hard to cover up that one zit you got last month… but I didn't. So shut it."

Charles glowered at her and his hand instantly flew up to his head, where his shoulder length hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, as was the fashion recently.

"We are going to change the subject," he told her, "Your hair, for instance, presents itself as our new topic."

"Do you think I should cut it off?" Lily asked uncertainly, her own hand now flying to her hair.

"You could," Charles nodded, "But if you ever get attacked by some really queer men, then I want you to be able to show yourself as a woman… without showing anything else. Cutting all of your hair off seems a tad too permanent as well. Who knows? You might have to reveal yourself."

Lily nodded, "You're right. I'll just put it in a hat or something with a few pins. That should make it stay."

She quickly piled her hair on top of her head and secured it with a few pins, before tying a bandana over that and then tucking everything into a brown woolen cap.

Another glance in the mirror confirmed her suspicions: she was now fit to play her part.

Charles nodded in approval, "That'll do. Just don't forget to do that every morning."

"Don't be-"

"Your new name, if you'll remember is Charlie Jones."

"Of course I -"

"Your parents are John and Anne Jones who died of cholera three months ago. They owned a farm in the country but you weren't able to keep it and sold it at a low price. You wish to join the crew for work."

"Charles-"

"I've got your papers ready, just show the captain and everything should be valid."

"Can we go now?"

"Patience!" Charles mocked the military captains down the streets. There was a moment of silence then –

"Actually yes, we can go now… I've finished."

(

This was the first time Lily had gone to the village without anybody stopping to pay any attention to her. Usually, when people passed her, they would bow on protocol, or at the very least acknowledge her in some way.

But now, she was one of them: A simple worker with no other interest than to keep working to survive.

Lily had packed light, taking only a knapsack which nestled comfortably on her back. It contained onlu a small picture of her and the Evans family; a small pocket knife Charles had given her, a hankerchief that her father had once given her as a child, and a spare change of clothes. Around her neck was a small, decorated key on a delicate chain. It hung low enough to be concealed by her tunic and Lily had not even considered leaving it behind. It was last gift from her mother, with instructions to keep it secret and keep it safe. As a last thought, Lily had also quickly stuffed in her writing set. If things really did get bad, at least she'd have something to complain to.

"This'll be goodbye, milady," Mary said, turning towards her when they could see the docks a fair distance away.

"Aren't you coming to the docks?" Lily asked, disappointed. Mary had been her maid ever since she was five years old, earning her trust. Lily had confided within Mary for the past twelve years and was sorry to see her go. Despite her mother's warning, Lily had shown Mary the key on impulse, and for hours on end, Mary and she had stayed up late into the night, brainstorming about what it was, and why it was so precious.

"No, milady," Mary shook her head sadly, "I must get back to the house. You know how the cook gets when anyone's late."

"Of course," Lily nodded in understanding and embraced her friend, "Goodbye, Mary. I hope we see each other again. And- Mary?"

"Yes, miss?" Mary looked at Lily with a glint in her eye, almost knowing what was coming.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Lily said mischievously, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Miss!" Mary grinned at her playfully, "I would never!"

"I just hope there isn't another ship in town when I'm gone," Lily waved her hand, "Just make sure Ethan knows he's a lucky man."

"Oh, he does," Mary nudged her, "Goodbye Lily. Be careful. And make sure you write to me if you ever become a famous buccaneer," she joked.

"Of course," Lily promised, "And I expect to be invited to the wedding."

Mary rolled her eyes, "We'll see."

"This is the longest goodbye ever," Charles complained, "We get it, stay in touch, don't do anything stupid, now can we get a move on?"

Lily turned to glare at him, "I'm sorry, did you say something? Because I'm sure I just heard you interrupting my farewell to a friend I may never see again."

"You just say goodbye, nothing extravagant! It takes about two seconds!" Charles argued, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Oh, fine," Lily rolled her eyes and pulled Mary into one last hug, "Goodbye, Mary." And then as an added whisper, "Chop his stupid ponytail off in his sleep, won't you?"

"Goodbye Lily," Mary giggled, and waved, then made her way back up to the house, with a sorrowful glance behind her.

"Can we go now?" Charles complained.

"Honestly, I've never met someone so impatient," Lily shook her head but started to lead the way out the door.

"Why don't you look in the mirror?" Charles muttered.

"What was that?" Lily pretended she hadn't heard anything.

"Nothing," Charles replied, smiling innocently.

When they reached the docks, Charles pointed out which ship she would be working for and bid her goodbye.

"Remember, your name is Charlie Jones, you're fifteen years old and you were the son of a farmer until your parents died of a disease. You've come here looking for a job after you realized you're unable to care for the farm, which is in the country." Charles looked at Lily long and hard, "This is a big risk, you know?"

"I know," Lily smiled at him, "And if it turns out I'm a horrible shipman and they don't want me, I'll come straight back."

"Good," Charles smiled back, "I'll be waiting. Goodbye, Lily. I hope we see each other soon." He turned back towards the house, where he had no choice but to stay and take care of the old family house.

"Bye Charlie," she called softly at his back, recalling his own childhood name.

And with one last resigned look at her past, she turned towards her future.

It was a grand ship, with many masts and sails, but a ship nonetheless. Lily was sure it would be cramped on the inside.

"I just hope I don't have to share a room with anyone," she murmured to herself, smiling in spite of herself when she pictured the face of the poor boy if he ever found out her little secret.

A group of young boys, age ranging from fourteen to eighteen, were standing in a line in front of the ship. Pacing back and forth in front of them was a man who truly looked like a pirate. His grizzled face was adorned with scars and marks and a large chunk of his nose seemed to have been chopped off. His left eye was covered by an eye patch and on closer inspection, Lily saw he also had a wooden leg. A large staff helped him limp by, making an ominous dull _clunk_ every time it hit the floor.

"You all want to work on_The Ministry_, yes?" he growled, his stringy hair swinging as he whipped round to face the line.

Realizing this was where she needed to be, Lily joined the group in the line, and hastily replied 'yes, sir,' with the rest them.

"Only about half of you will be accepted, and those select few will have to live up to my standards, am I understood?"

Again, a low murmur of 'yes, sir' came from each boy, Lily included.

"My name is Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, and I will be the one judging whether or not you are worthy. Working on this ship is always a hard day's work and you need to be prepared. Understand?" Moody growled, "Step forward and say your name. We'll go down the line, starting with you." He pointed at a terrified looking boy around fourteen.

"Y-yes, sir," he stuttered, "I'm Ludo Bagman, sir."

"And, Mr. Bagman," Moody glared at him, "If you were chosen to work aboard this ship, how would you work?"

"I- I… I would… Very well, sir," Ludo gulped and his eyes shot either side of him.

Moody nodded at the next person in line.

"Arthur Weasley, sir." He was a red-headed boy, who appeared to be older than all the others, with wiry glasses and a tall, lanky figure. Freckles adorned his face, though Lily immediately felt a kinship with this boy, who was a fellow red head.

"Same question, Weasley," Moody barked.

"I'd try my best to live up to your standards, Mr. Moody," Arthur replied without stammering, and though his words may have sounded uncomfortable and eager to please on someone else, he seemed at least sincere and honest.

And it went down the line, John Dawlish, Caradoc Dearborn, Bartemius Crouch, Gilderoy Lockhart, Sturgis Podmore, Stan Shunpike, and Benjy Fenwick. Moody asked them a bunch of questions, sometimes about their future career here, or maybe about their home life. After each question, he'd stare at each boy for a few seconds, and then moved on.

When it came to Bartemius Crouch, however, it seemed he was already known by Moody.

"Your name?" Moody had grunted in his direction.

"Bartemius Crouch. Junior." The boy, around seventeen, didn't flinch when Moody's gaze turned on him, nor did his voice waver when he answered the question.

"Crouch, eh?" Moody surveyed Crouch with a newfound interest.

"Yes, sir," again, Crouch's voice was resolute and firm and Lily's eyebrows raised in respect.

"Who are your parents, boy?" Crouch looked quite ruffled at being referred to as 'boy', but he answered nonetheless.

"Michelle and Bartemius Crouch, sir." Lily could tell that Crouch was quite confused as to where this was going, and she couldn't blame him.

She reminded herself of the cover story Charles had created quickly, in case Moody asked her the same question.

"Bartemius Crouch. Catches pirates, doesn't he? Works with some pretty high people, eh?" Moody asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yes, sir," Crouch took on a distinctive proud stance, and his pride was only too clear in his tone. He continued, gaining confidence, "That's why I'm here, sir. After working on this ship, I plan go up in the ranks. Father said himself I'm the obvious choice sir."

A smug look replaced the previously blank one of Crouch's face as Lily frowned at his words. All previous notions of respect for Crouch disappeared and Lily dearly hoped he would not get chosen, just to see that smug smile wiped off of his face. She was most likely correct, after seeing Moody's eyes narrow slightly.

"That will do boy," Moody growled, "Next."

Lily's favorite 'interview' by far was Gilderoy Lockhart's. He was an eager boy of around sixteen, and cocky wouldn't be too far out in describing him either.

"And you?" Moody nodded to the golden-haired boy that stood next to Caradoc Dearborn.

"Gilderoy Lockhart, sir," he said proudly. He glanced towards where a single woman stood, gazing at their group with a wide smile on her face. He gave her the thumbs up, and Lily, along with most of the boys she noticed, had to stifle a giggle when he continued to point to himself and the ship.

Moody raised an eyebrow at his peculiar behavior, but didn't comment on it.

"And, Mr. Lockhart, what do you hope to accomplish while on this ship?"

It was a simple question, none too hard, but Lockhart seemed to think it required a lot of thinking to get the perfect answer.

"On this ship, I hope to accomplish…" he left it trailing off, and paused to think some more.

Lily couldn't decide whether to fight the urge to laugh out loud at the expression on his face that implied he was having some serious digestion problems or groan irritably at the time he was so obviously wasting by attempting to answer the question. Poor thing, she sympathized, he doesn't seem to do a lot of thinking. Perhaps he should stop before he hurts himself.

"On this ship," he started again, and Lily almost rolled her eyes, "I hope to accomplish a great deed. I will rid the seas of pirates with my brilliant and flawless sword skills, which, by the way, will _only_ need a bit of honing on this ship and shall soon be recognized as one of the great sailors of the world. Not that it would take a bit of work, mind you; I'm already earning myself a name around. Just the other day, I helped Mrs. Lovegood save her cat from the swaying branches of a willow tree."

Lily blinked. He had ten minutes to think of a suitable response and he comes out with that? The rest of the boys gazed open-mouthed with Lily at Lockhart, and even Moody looked a little shocked at the boy's insolence.

"Well, Mr. Lockhart," Moody had recovered quickly and he seemed to have a dangerous glint in his eye about being spoken too like that, "Maybe you could show us these flawless skills of yours."

His voice was thick with sarcasm, and though Lily was still a little cautious about Moody, she felt herself warm up to him a bit more. Lily had always been an enthusiastic supporter of the life-changing tool of sarcasm, even though it was often frowned upon in her society. Many didn't even know what it was. However, this didn't deter Lily in her quest. The nobles didn't even pick it up. Sarcasm could be dancing on the tip of their nose, naked with all but a slice of lettuce, and they still wouldn't bat an eye.

"Of course, sir," there was definitely a waver in Lockhart's voice, Lily decided. Maybe he wasn't as brilliant as he claimed to be. "But I haven't got a weapon on me."

If this was an attempt to weasel out of a show of his skills, Lily thought it was a pathetic one.

"Nonsense," Moody was starting to look a little more cheerful, "You can use my dagger."

"I wouldn't let any sort of weapon into the hands of that boy," Lily muttered to the boy beside her before she could stop herself.

She needn't worry, however, as the boy just turned to face her and grinned easily, "I wouldn't let anything pointy and sharp in the hands of that boy, whether it's classified as a weapon or not," he countered.

"Very true," Lily agreed, chuckling.

"Benjy Fenwick," the boy held out his hand, "But most people call me Benny."

"Charlie Jones," Lily said, shaking his hand, "Nice to meet you, call me Benny."

Benny grinned again, "Good luck with your turn. I have a feeling we'd get on."

"Me too," Lily said, and they both turned to watch Lockhart and Moody.

"Here, and don't break it," Moody handed Lockhart a fairly handsome dagger that was a bit longer than normal ones. Even though Lily couldn't see the handle because it was clutched in Lockhart's hands, she could tell that would be something to look at too.

"Swing at me," Moody had taken out his own dagger, and spread his arms wide, waiting for Lockhart to attack him first.

"Hi-yah! Take this! And that! Come and fight!"

It had to be the most hilarious fight Lily had ever seen, if you could even call it a fight.

Lockhart was just swinging this way and that, about a meter away from Moody, and obviously under the impression he was doing a rather good job. Lily had to give him credit though… he did beautiful pirouettes.

Beside her, Benny started snickering. Lily found the laughter contagious, especially as Benny started to mimic Lockhart's ridiculous moves. Soon, they were leaning on each other for support, breathless as Lockhart employed a ninja position… then swung down the hand without the dagger in it, forgetting which one it was in.

"Alright, that's enough," Moody snatched the dagger away from Lockhart who stood there wondering for a second where it had gone.

"But, I was beating you!" Lockhart protested as he spun closer to Moody.

"I'm afraid you were beating thin air, though just barely," Moody told Lockhart's flushed face.

"Next!" Moody barked without a second glance to the red-faced boy who entered the line again.

Finally, it was Lily's turn.

"And you?" Moody grunted in her direction.

"Jones, sir. Charlie Jones," she replied. She fixed her voice so that it was deeper than usual, but not so deep that it started to look false. She was determined to keep her voice and gaze steady, just like Crouch's, and was careful to avoid looked overconfident and self-assured, a mistake two already made.

"And, Mr. Jones," Moody started, "Why are you here?"

"My parents died of the disease, sir, and I couldn't manage our farm on my own so I've come to look for a job. I believe this is the best one there is, out of all my choices," she added, hoping a bit of flattery would soften him up a bit.

"You are correct, Mr. Jones," Moody said, nodding, "Tell me, can you read and write?"

"Yes, sir." Her education had been vast and she most definitely enjoyed reading.

Moody nodded to himself, deep in thought.

"I've made my decision," he suddenly proclaimed, and all the boys that had relaxed as soon as his attention was turned somewhere else straightened up immediately.

Lockhart was whispering excitedly to his annoyed neighbor, telling him all about the skills that he knew, and how he was sure he would soon be promoted because of his superior skill above all the other "skinny rascals that haven't a chance". This didn't please his neighbor too much, and Lily thought it not an accident that Lockhart suddenly stumbled a few moments later.

"Weasley, Podmore, Fenwick, Dearborn, and Jones," he stared each one of them in the face, "Welcome aboard."

**Wow. Mammoth chapter, right? Like, my hands are hurting. I'll get the rest of the chapters edited like this, I just hated my other writing… they'll be up soon, I promise and then I'll get to work on chapter 7.**

**Tell me what you think of the changes I've made! **

**Thank you!**

**(Oh, and is anyone interested in phantom of the opera? Saw the musical last year and I'm like obsessed now haha)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Enjoy!**

_**The Pirate Princess**_

"Jones, Fenwick, Weasley, you'll be sharing this room here," Moody pointed to one of the small rooms that crowded the thin hallway. Lily groaned inside. Not only did she have to live in this small space, she'd have to share it too?

Whatever qualms Lily had about this, she nodded and gave her 'yes, sir' along with the other boys. She didn't think Moody would appreciate any complaints

The ship so far was decorated lavishly. The wood was polished, the deck was scrubbed, and the sails were tied and spotless. Though the ship seemed big on the outside, with all the men that needed to be housed, the rooms for sleeping took up most of the space.

_I might even like it if it wasn't swarming with smelly sailors, _Lily thought wryly, _Yes that does put a damper on things._

As the three new recruits entered their new room, they looked around with uncertainty. True, it was bigger than Lily expected, but the furniture must've been sold at a charity shop. There were three beds, stacked unsteadily on top of each other so they made a bunk-bed. They were very thin with no railing to stop anyone falling out and Lily could tell from here that the mattresses were _not_ going to be comfy. There was a small table in the corner with a wooden chair and on the other side of the room, a dusty and worn armchair that looked ready to collapse.

Lily eyed the lower bunk with some feral look in her eye. Simultaneously, the three roommates all looked at each other and she could tell they were thinking the same thing. They dove through the air to get to the lowest bunk.

Benny and Arthur weren't exactly what Lily would call big and bulky, but they were bigger and bulkier than she was.

Seconds after they dived, Lily was casually thrown to the side after Benny pushed her out. She huffed angrily. Wasn't he supposed to be a friend?

Deciding she'd take the second bunk before one of them lost the wrestling match they were currently in, she threw her rucksack up there and attempted to pull herself up. She was too small, however, and ended up sprawled on the floor again. After several more attempts, she gave up and sat on the wooden chair in their room to watch Benny and Arthur. It seemed Arthur was winning. He was older than both Lily and Benny, and was wiry too. Soon after, he had Benny beaten and sprawled on the floor like Lily was moments before.

"Unfair!" Benny declared, though he was grinning, "Rematch!"

"Sorry, but I think he won fair and square," Lily put in.

Arthur inclined his head to her, looking a bit hesitant.

"Charlie Jones," she introduced herself, and stood up to shake his hand.

"Arthur Weasley," he replied.

"Benjy Fenwick," Benny mimicked Lily, "But everyone calls –"

"Everyone calls you Benny, we know," Lily interrupted with a smirk.

Benny scowled for a moment, but gave in and smiled anyway.

"Did you see Lockhart earlier?" he asked Arthur excitedly.

Arthur nodded, "He wasn't very good, was he?"

"Wasn't very good?" Lily scoffed, "He just stood there twirling around like a ballerina!"

"No, no," Benny shook his head, "It wasn't a ballerina."

"More like a Russian dancer?" Arthur suggested.

Lily and Benny snorted. It seemed Arthur was quickly getting over his slight shyness.

"Well, let's decide." Benny got up and rolled up a piece of parchment. He proceeded to do a series of movements in which he twisted and turned, wobbled and shouted. Arthur and Lily doubled over laughing and Lily came to sit next to Arthur on the bottom bunk.

"Come on, Charlie! Why don't you show us some?" Benny urged Lily.

"Oh, well I don't think I have the girl-like tendency to twirl around like you do," Lily teased.

"Course you do!" Benny said gleefully, "How old are you anyway?"

"Fifteen," she replied.

"Well, no offense or anything, but you do look quite feminine to me," Benny said.

"So I've been told," Lily grinned at him, showing her carelessness to the matter.

Benny took this as permission to poke fun at her for the rest of the afternoon, much to Lily's chagrin.

"Well, I'm just saying, but you could've been a girl if it wasn't for the lack of other body parts," Benny kept repeating.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Like you keep saying," she said dryly, "But you seem to be forgetting that you could've been a ballet dancer just as well as I could've been a girl. Your footwork? _Perfect._"

Arthur howled with laughter while Benny just shook his head, "You know, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Really, Mr. Fenwick?" Moody appeared in the doorway, "Though I'm glad to see you getting along with your roommates, you're all needed on deck."

They all nodded and followed him out of the room to the one next to them, where Caradoc Dearborn and Sturgis Podmore were staying.

Moody also burst in into their room, where Caradoc and Sturgis were chatting. Benny, Arthur, and Lily all exchanged sour looks when they saw Caradoc and Sturgis' bedroom had two single separate beds.

"If you'll all follow me to the deck," Moody said and started up the stairs where he walked awkwardly and loudly because of his wooden leg.

Up on deck, the whole crew was assembled in a line in front of a short, balding man with brown hair, in his mid-forties.

"The new recruits, captain," Moody nodded his head to the man in front.

"Thank you, Mad-Eye," the captain nodded back.

Moody went to stand in his own position in the line, while the group of boys and Lily just milled around, not sure where to go.

"Stand next to me," Moody hissed at them. They all nodded at once, and rushed to follow orders to save being embarrassed in front of the clearly amused crew.

"Everyone, welcome back to _The Ministry_, and for those that are new, we hope you enjoy your time here," he took time to smile at the new recruits, all of whom were looking quite nervous, "Start getting ready to sail," he directed the order to the old crew, all of which were between the ages of thirty and sixty.

"I'm Captain Cornelius Fudge. I'd like you all to introduce yourselves," the captain said when they were left alone and the crew had been dismissed, "Starting with you." He pointed at Arthur.

"I'm Arthur Weasley, sir," Arthur nodded respectively at Fudge, and the captain gestured for Benny to go."

"Benjy Fenwick, sir," Benny mimicked Arthur, but couldn't help adding, "But I prefer Benny."

Lily had to stifle her giggles, as it seemed Benny was adamant against his proper name and had the nerve to even correct the captain!

"Caradoc Dearborn, sir," Lily watched Caradoc twitch nervously before remembering to nod, like Benny and Arthur.

"Sturgis Podmore," Sturgis stood there for a moment before adding, "sir."

"L- Charlie Jones, sir," Lily's eyes widened slightly as she almost slipped and said "Lily Evans".

"Charlie Jones," Fudge studied Lily, "Moody tells me you can read and write?"

It was a question to clarify and Lily nodded.

"Good, good," Fudge nodded.

"Well, I don't suppose any of you know how to fight, lookout, or climb the riggings?" Fudge looked at each hopefully.

Lily raised her eyebrows and looked back at the boys. Did any of them _look_ like they knew how to fight?

He looked readily disappointed, "Ah, well, it's not like I expected you to be professionals straight away," he chuckled, "Mad-Eye will teach you tomorrow."

"Mad-Eye?" Lily dared ask. It seemed the captain was a kind man, maybe a little too soft for controlling a ship and a bit blustering, but she believed he wasn't too strict or at all mean.

"Yes, but we call him Mad-Eye because of his eye," Fudge explained, before getting back to business, "I'll give you small jobs until you're properly trained. Meet Mad-Eye here tomorrow at noon. He'll tell you all you need to know."

"Yes, sir," they chanted again. _That's starting to get a bit old,_ Lily thought.

"Mr. Jones?" Fudge looked inquiringly at Lily, wondering if he got the name right. When Lily nodded, he continued, "You'll spend the rest of the day sorting my books in my cabin. I want them in alphabetical order." When Lily nodded, he moved on, "Mr. Weasley, you can help Mr. Diggory load the luggage onto the ship, and Mr. Dearborn had help you. Mr. Fenwick and Mr. Podmore can then drag that luggage to each of the doors. Everybody got it? Good."

"This is mad," Benny muttered to Lily, "So much work so soon."

"Stop whining and get on with it," she told him, giving him a shove towards the bags that were steadily piling up on the front of the boat.

He groaned at the sight, but with another push and a threat from Lily, got on with it.

Lily knew she was meant to go to the captain's own cabin, but she wasn't exactly sure where that was.

Why were there so many doors? Lily groaned, and did a funny little spin that allowed her to look at all the doors.

Did that help?

No, not in the slightest.

"Excuse me," she stopped a man in his fifties who was carrying a barrel.

"What?" he snarled. Well, that barrel did look heavy, and therefore the man was probably not very happy that he was stopped with a load, Lily concluded.

"I'm looking for the captain's quarters…" she trailed off, looking hopefully at the man.

"So?" the man said roughly, attempting to push through.

"Wait!" Lily ran a few steps in front of him, "Where is it?"

The man eyed her for a bit, then pointed to one of the more obvious doors that Lily had somehow missed.

"Oh," she said, feeling quite stupid.

The man grunted and carried on down the stairs.

Lily shrugged away his rude behavior, never really encountering anything like it. Well, she supposed if someone ever did they'd get their head chopped off.

She smiled at that thought, but then soon had to duck as someone swung a beam around.

She made her way carefully to the door the man had pointed out. Upon entering it, Lily lost her jaw somewhere on the floor when she saw the pile of books waiting for her.

(

Over three hours later, Lily's back felt as though someone had stabbed a thousand knives in it. To make it worse, she still hadn't completed half of the books! Honestly, she liked reading, yes, but as much as this man? No, not really.

And in alphabetical order? How is that possible? He had thousands of books, and yet she was supposed to sort through them?

Lily let a groan out when she realized she had to shift pounds of books along the shelf to fit in 'A Sailors Survival'. The ship jolted all of a sudden and Lily peeked out of the window to see that the ship was going well out to see and getting far away from the docks. Lily smiled sadly, thinking about Charles and Mary, and how she didn't even get to say goodbye to her sister, Petunia, and even wish her good luck before her marriage to the whale, Vernon Dursley. Lily made a face even thinking about him. Large and beefy, the man could only be described as 'big'. Big temper, big face, big neck, big stomach, big nose… but his eyes were small and beady, and she had to admit, he had small sights, too. Marrying Petunia, he would soon realize, was the biggest mistake of his life. Lily shook her head of these thoughts and returned to her work.

Half an hour later, she stumbled across a book titled 'The Pirate Princess'. Lily snorted at the cheesy title, but turned it over to see what it was about.

_Lady Aurora of Chester was an orphan. Taken in at a young age, her new parents found her beautiful and kind. But when she gets kidnaps by a gang of fearsome pirates, her whole life turns upside-down. She soon discovers there is more to the handsome lookout on the ship and then there's that pirate king that looks so much like her… will she get her happy ending?_

Lily stared at the piece of rubbish with astonishment, wondering if Fudge actually read this. But wait- there was a note attached to the back.

_Must give this to Albus- excellent story._

Lily snorted again. So Fudge was a great fan of pirate romances? She can't wait until she can tell Arthur and Benny. Actually, she might give it a go. It'll be a laugh reading out the parts that Fudge found "excellent". Deciding she'll ask Fudge when he ever came in to dismiss her (she didn't expect to finish tonight) Lily attempted to make the pile smaller.

Another hour later, Lily thought she had made progress. The pile was no longer daunting, but she might be able to finish off tomorrow.

Fudge entered not moments later.

"Ah, Charlie! Still not done?" he greeted her warmly enough, but looked taken aback at the pile still sitting on the floor.

"No, sorry sir," Lily replied, looking sorry, "It's just that you read so many books, I'm amazed!"

Fudge looked pleased at the compliment, but was still a little reproving, "Alright, you can finish tomorrow. You may leave."

It was a clear dismissal, but Lily stayed behind some more to ask him about the book, "Sorry, sir, but I was wondering about this book I saw that looked quite interesting."

Fudge had turned to his desk, and still didn't look at her as he sorted through old maps, "Ah, yes, what book was that?"

"_The Pirate Princess_, sir," Lily replied, smiling foolishly as she said the name.

"Oh, yes, good book, good book. What did you want to ask?" Fudge looked pleased that she had stumbled across his book, as it appeared to be a favorite.

"I was wondering if I could read this, sir," Lily said politely, "It looks very interesting."

"Yes! Go ahead, it yours to read at your leisure," Fudge turned around to gaze at her, "It's one of the old time brilliant works," he said enthusiastically, "Tell me when you're done, won't you? It would be great if I could discuss it with you."

Lily bit her lip to stop the laughter that was threatening to spill, "Of course, sir, I'll tell you straight away."

"Excellent," Fudge surveyed her with satisfaction, "You'll do well on this ship, Charlie. Except we'll have to, er, beef you up. If you don't mind me saying, you are quite dainty."

"Yes, sir," Lily nodded her head as she blushed and exited, holding the book in her hand tightly.

(

"Hey, Charlie," Benny and Arthur greeted her as she entered. Arthur was lolling on the only chair while Benny, for some odd reason, was just spread out on the floor.

"Hey," she replied, throwing the book on her bed.

"What took you so long?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, you won't believe how many books Fudge has," Lily rolled her eyes and tossed _The Pirate Princess_ on her bed before collapsing on Arthur's bed.

"That bad?" Benny asked, wincing.

"Much, much worse," she told him, "My back feels like it's on fire."

"Poor, poor, Charlie," Benny sighed dramatically, "He only had to lift books, but I and Arthur here were dragging heavy bits of luggage across the ship. What a hard life he has." Benny shook his head sadly.

"Oh, shut up," Lily threw a pillow in his direction, "Anyway, Arthur's on my side, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, definitely," Arthur nodded. But with one glance at Benny they both burst into laughter.

"Oh, yes, very funny," Lily muttered, "Laugh at my pain, will you?"

"What's that you got, anyway?" Benny asked, pointing to the book Lily had thrown on the second bunk.

"Oh that," Lily grinned evilly, "That is our dear captain's favorite book."

Arthur looked at her worriedly, "You didn't steal it, did you?"

Lily snorted, "Course not. He lent it to me after I said it looked good."

"Come on then, let's see it," Benny said eagerly.

Lily grinned and got off Arthur's bed to reach for the book on the second. She forgot, however, the fact that she had tried earlier today to reach her claimed bed, but had yet to succeed in the task.

Lily, determination written all over her face, jumped up to grab onto the side of the bed to haul herself up. However, all did not go to plan and she slipped to the floor again, subject to Benny and Arthur's raucous laughter.

"Arthur?" Lily looked towards the tall boy in the chair, "Wouldn't mind giving me a hand, would you?"

"I'm guessing you're not asking Benny because he's an idiot?" Arthur asked as he lumbered over to where Lily was standing.

"You're exactly right, my favorite roommate," Lily glared at Benny, who was still rolling around on the floor.

Arthur chuckled, "Here, step on my hands and I'll give you a lift."

"Thank you, Arthur," Lily chanted in a sing-song, childish way.

"You're welcome, Charlie," Arthur said in the said tone, mocking her.

Arthur clasped his fingers together and tightened his back muscles so they would be ready to lift up Lily when necessary.

"You ready?" Arthur asked when Lily had secured one foot in his hands.

"Yup!" Lily replied, quite cheerfully, as Benny had gone quiet for the time being, ready to watch.

"Don't drop him," Benny put in.

Arthur and Lily turned round to glare at him, "Yes, thank you."

"Here we go," Arthur gave her a word of warning before he tossed her onto the bed.

Lily searched for the book in her future den, and found it seconds later in the corner.

"Got it!" she called, "Arthur, there's no need for you to help me down, I can jump."

Lily twisted herself around so she was facing the two boys, and slid off the edge with a muted _thump_ once her hands were placed correctly.

"You're really light," Arthur noted.

"What is it then?" Benny called from directly beneath her.

"_The Pirate Princess_," Lily crowed, showing the book to the two boys.

"You've got to be joking," Arthur said, grinning and taking the book from her to have a proper look.

"Course he's not!" Benny exclaimed, finally getting up, "Look at that! It seems our captain, dear captain, is in favor of love stories."

It was a pleasant, rowdy night where Lily spent most of it reading out snippets of the book to Arthur and Benny.

It was well past midnight when they decided to go to bed. Lily had to ask Arthur to lift her up again, while Benny snickered and just climbed.

All in all, Lily thought, a pretty good day. She had not only made two valuable friends aboard this ship, but found a place where she finally belonged.

Boys are so lucky. They get to sit around, doing nothing, while all the ladies have to dance around, flirt, and be so pretty and proper.

Yes, Lily thought she was very lucky in life, especially in this area. Well, no, she amended, if she was any luckier she would've been able to get a room with separate beds.

A thought crossed Lily as she silently untied the cloth from around her chest. What about her hair? What if the boys woke up before her, just to discover her with long red locks?

She'd have to wake up earlier than them, Lily decided, otherwise things might not be so perfect at all.

**There you go! Second chapter done! Not many changes in this one though, just the odd punctuation and so on. **

**Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I am amazed. 11 reviews in one chapter? I LOVE YOU!**

**So, here you go, my writing pried from the beating (hopefully) heart in my chest!**

**Enjoy! (and review!)**

_**A Sore Back… Again**_

Lily cracked her eyes open, then immediately hid under the blanket again when the offensive light stared right at her, injuring her senses.

Slowly and carefully, Lily peeked out from under the thin blanket for the second time, remembering her promise to herself she would wake up earlier than Benny and Arthur. The light pierced her eyes again, but she didn't flinch this time. She sat up, and rubbed her eyes to rid them of sleep. Completing this action, Lily looked around the room, wondering why she would possibly be in here.

The memories came back in a flood. The books… the fight over the bed… Benny and Arthur…

Lily smiled as she remembered the wimpy pillow fight Benny had attempted to start last night, but Lily and Arthur had quickly shot him down, both too tired to carry on. It seems like Benny was on a constant adrenaline rush.

She heard Arthur stir below her and Lily quickly brushed her fingers through her long hair and pinned it up again. Making sure every strand was in place, Lily then placed the bandana over her head, tying tight so it wouldn't come off.

Next, Lily grabbed the cloth from the end of her bed and took her shirt off. This part was quite awkward, as it was the only time she had been indecent in the presence of a male.

Scratch that, it'll be the _only_ time she'll be allowed in the presence of a male indecent.

Do you know why Charles let her go through with this insane plan?

So that she would _not _have to marry, and therefore _not_ be exposed to anything inappropriate to a five year old.

In fact, before Lily had left, Charles had given her a stern talking to, which included the phrases, "If they try _anything…_"… "Hangman's noose for them…"… "If they find out you're a girl, jump off the boat. I don't care that you might be in the middle of the ocean, do _not_ let them touch you."

It had gotten so bad that Lily was still having trouble blocking visions of death, in which her brother was the one behind it all and she was in the sea drowning because of his stubbornness.

"Charlie? Benny? You awake?" Arthur's voice floated up towards her.

"I am," Lily replied, "But I think the nut case has finally crashed."

Indeed, the sound of Benny's snoring was so loud Lily wondered by people in Africa weren't marching up to clap a hand over his mouth.

Arthur chuckled, "Thank God for that, otherwise he might've killed us all."

"Death by annoyance," Lily put in, grinning, easily slipping back into the new routine of banter.

A bell clanged somewhere nearby, and while Benny didn't stir, it made Lily and Arthur jump.

"That's probably the signal for getting up," Arthur said, starting to unfold himself from under his bed and stretching.

"Didn't look like it did the job for the nut case, though," Lily had followed Arthur's lead, slipping down from her position and grabbing her boots from the side of the bed.

"Do you think we should wake him up?" Arthur mused.

"But then we'd have to deal with him," Lily reasoned playfully.

"If we woke him up, we'd also have the pleasure of throwing things at him," Arthur said, the first mischievous smile Lily had seen creeping onto his face.

"What?" Lily, though pleased by the grin, was thoroughly confused.

Arthur didn't answer her, choosing pick up _The Pirate Princess_, take aim, and lob at the snoring lump.

Lily snorted when the book hit Benny squarely on the head, and he in turn jolted awake, attempted to fly… and landed on the floor.

"Now, you see," Arthur turned to Lily, still grinning, "I got the pleasure of throwing something at him, and then seeing him crash and burn."

"I like you, Arthur Weasley," Lily told him a-matter-of-factly.

"I like you too, Charlie Jones," Arthur clapped her on the shoulder.

"What about me?" Benny's voice was muffled by the wooden floor.

Arthur and Lily shared an amused look before turning towards Benny, "We like you too, Benjy Fenwick," the said at the same time.

"Benny!" came his yell from the floor.

(

"I don't understand why one of you couldn't have just climbed up and gently shaken me awake," Benny grumbled, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"And you probably never will," Lily replied cheerfully.

It was now midday and after a painful morning of book sorting, Lily was quite excited for her first lesson. It meant that maybe soon enough they would be able to start doing real jobs around the ship.

Caradoc and Sturgis had joined them earlier on their way to the deck where they were yesterday.

"What did they do?" Sturgis asked, clearly amused.

"I threw a shoe at him –" Arthur started.

"And he fell out of bed," Lily finished.

"In our room," Caradoc began with a smile on his face, "We have a little something called order."

"Really?" Benny looked shocked.

"Never heard of it," Lily said innocently.

"Neither have I," Arthur said, "After all, it is pretty hard with five brothers."

"You have five brothers?" Benny gaped at him.

"Yeah," Arthur grinned and named them all, "There's Frederick, Matthew, Theodore, Bertram, and Malcolm."

"What kind of name's Bertram?" Benny asked.

"My brother's name," Arthur replied, daring Benny to go further.

"I think it's a lovely name," Lily said sweetly.

Benny glared at her, "Yeah, you would."

"Over here!" Mad-Eye's voice carried clearly across the ship and the boys and Lily changed direction to stand by the railing, to make their way over to him instead.

"Sir," they bowed their heads to him.

"No, we'll have none of that. Just Mad-Eye, if you will," he told them, "You'll be learning a variety of things on this ship, but none will you ever fully master if you do not possess CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared the last two words, so loud that Sturgis actually took a step back.

"You'll learn how to fight, how to control the weapon in your hand. Your senses will be honed so that even when a ship is only a black speck on the horizon, you'll know what it is, and you'll know what to do."

He stood back to look at them, "The captain has granted you the rest of the day off so that you can work with me. First things first, though. You'll have to climb the rigging so you can get to the lookout position. And then you'll have to know how to swing on ropes. We'll start with that today."

Mad-Eye had hired another man onboard to demonstrate, though he told them he'd rather be doing himself if it wasn't for his "blasted leg".

None of them had had the courage to ask him why his leg had got chopped off, and they figured they probably never would.

"Listen closely," he barked at them, "Climbing the riggings is difficult. First, you have to…"

The demonstration was, in Lily's opinion, amazing. The man was a monkey, and she doubted she could ever climb that fast.

"You," Mad-Eye nodded towards Lily, "You try."

Lily gaped, "But- But… I…"

"Don't stand there stuttering, boy! Get a move on," Mad-Eye barked.

Lily looked terrified, but did as she was bid. She wrapped her arms around the ropes in the correct position that the demonstrator had showed them all.

Slowly, but surely, she pulled herself up to the lookout position, where Mad-Eye had pointed out.

She grinned to herself when she realized she had done it perfectly. Truth be told, it was quite fun. Looking down, she saw Arthur grinning at her and Benny giving her the thumbs up. She waved at them sweetly.

"Alright, no showing off, come back down," Mad-Eye yelled up at her. Coming down was harder, as she hadn't realized how far up she was until she looked down from the lookout position. She landed smoothly on the deck, beaming up her five companions. Benny started clapping jokingly, but it soon faded when Mad-Eye gave him "the look".

"Mr. Fenwick," he started, "Why don't you try next?"

Benny shrugged, but started climbing the riggings with as much grace as he would if he had been doing it all his life.

He reached the mast must faster than Lily did, and with a gesture from Mad-Eye came swinging back down like a monkey.

Arthur, Caradoc, and Sturgis all tried. Caradoc and Arthur made it up and down, like Lily and Benny, but their speed was slower and their movements clumsy. Sturgis didn't even make it up to the mast. About halfway up, he made the mistake of looking down, and with one whimper had to climb back to the deck.

"Not bad, not bad," Mad-Eye appraised them with his one eye, "Just a bit more practice, especially you, Podmore."

They learnt about how to swing from ropes. This was, in Lily's opinion, quite terrifying. You had to hold onto the rope with one hand, and then cut the rope off with your other.

Lily really didn't fancy swinging on a rope with a knife in her hand. This was in her personal category of _DON'T DO THESE THEY ARE DANGEROUS _in herlist.

However, like last time, Mad-Eye ordered Lily to go first. He handed her a dagger, one with a handsome, shiny blade just half a foot long. Its handle was a dark, mahogany wood that looked like it had barely been used.

Lily became aware she was wasting time looking at the dagger and looked up. She saw Mad-Eye's questioning face and a wave of determination swept through her. Sticking her chin in the air, she didn't bother to think about this new urge to please Mad-Eye, to impress him. She just wanted to prove to herself that she could do the same as any other man, possibly better.

She grabbed the rope with one hand, just as the demonstrator did and gripped the knife even tighter. The goal was to swing from her to the wheel. In one swiping motion, she brought the knife round to attack the rope. It broke immediately, and she was off.

Contrary to Lily's previous belief, though it still remained dangerous, swinging on the rope was… fun. She knew that if her hair was loose, it would be swishing a round her and tickling her cheeks. It was exhilarating to feel almost weightless, and it boosted Lily's self-esteem when she found holding herself up was completely easy,

All too soon, Lily was at her planned destination. She turned back to the group, letting go of the rope.

"No! Don't – " Mad-Eye's yell reached her too late and the rope swung harmlessly down to the deck.

"Get that, boy, and don't do it again!" Lily realized that she was supposed to bring the rope back, and feeling immensely stupid, she walked timidly to the busy deck, crowded by the crew moving around and doing their jobs.

She winced as the rope kept getting stepped on, and she had to keep repeating "Excuse me" to get it.

Once she finally retrieved the rope and returned to the railing where Mad-Eye was, she held the rope out for him to take.

He snatched it back, "Don't do that again boy. You never know when there could be a bunch of pirates surrounding you and you need it again to return."

Lily nodded mutely and held the dagger out too.

Mad-Eye's face softened, if only a bit, "Keep that. You never know when you'll need a knife too."

Lily smiled gratefully and joined Arthur and Benny again.

"You okay?" Arthur asked as Benny stepped forward to try.

"Perfect," she replied, slipping the dagger into her boot.

Soon, all the boys had gone, each of them making a mental note to bring back the rope after what happened to Lily.

Mad-Eye seemed to think that that was enough for one day, choosing to teach them little bits and ingrain them into their minds looked like the best course of action, rather than loading things onto them all at once.

"Keep practicing for the remainder of the day," he ordered, leaving them to their own devices while he searched for the captain.

"Do you want to practice with the ropes, Charlie?" Benny asked her, "After all, you need to remember not to leave the rope behind."

"Oh, shut up," Lily shoved him out of the way, but headed towards the ropes nonetheless.

The rest of the day was spent doing what Mad-Eye ordered. Lily perfected her rope-swinging abilities, and then raced Arthur and Benny on the riggings, Benny always winning. Lily also spent more time with Caradoc, who also showed Lily some tricks with her recently acquired dagger.

Mad-Eye showed up hours later and raised an eyebrow at Lily and Caradoc, who both had their daggers out.

"I don't recall telling anyone to practice fighting," he growled.

"Sorry sir," Caradoc replied, "I was just showing Charlie a few tricks."

Mad-Eye grunted. "You're all dismissed. Just be aware that I will be checking to see if you had been practicing or not tomorrow." He glared pointedly in the direction of Lily and Caradoc.

"Yes sir," came the now familiar general rumble of the four boys and Lily.

They trounced back to their new housing, filled with the feeling of accomplishment and pride. An excited buzz took up most of their trip back to their rooms as they talked about the thrill of swinging on the rope, or how fast they might be able to climb on the rigging.

"The moves you showed Charlie, Caradoc, where'd you learn them?" Benny asked.

"My father taught me when I was smaller," Caradoc, who had suddenly gone stiff, answered through tight lips.

"What was he then?" Benny, as curious as ever, was oblivious to Caradoc's discomfort, "Was he a blacksmith?"

"No," Caradoc gave Benny an annoyed looked when he opened his mouth to ask again, "Would you hold your tongue?"

Benny looked taken aback, "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

Caradoc said nothing, but just kept walking and didn't even say goodnight to the other four when they reached his room.

Sturgis gave the occupied room an apprehensive look before turning to the others and bidding them goodbye.

"Well that was extremely insensitive," Arthur told Benny once the door closed behind them.

"Did he really look that bad before?" Benny, to his credit, did look abashed and a little sorry.

"Yes," Lily told Benny, throwing off her boots.

Benny turned to Arthur.

"Do you really need to ask?" Arthur looked disbelievingly at him.

"You'll have to apologize," Lily told Benny.

"I know, mother," he grinned teasingly at her, "Right after I get some sleep."

He chucked his boots into a corner and threw his shirt onto the chair. Jumping onto his top bunk, he waved to them cheekily before diving under the covers.

Arthur and Lily shared an exasperated look before Arthur followed suit and stood by the bed, waiting for Lily so he could lift her up.

"Do you ever take the bandana off?" Arthur asked her.

Lily just smirked and fell into her bed.

Lily waited until Arthur's and Benny's snores became louder to disguise any sound she might've made by moving around. She slowly removed the cloth from her chest, sighing and taking a deep breath to enjoy the freedom. Then, she untied the bandana and chucked that under her pillow.

She ran her fingers through her hair, thinking she would give anything for a hairbrush. She imagined it was disgusting, all tangled and greasy.

That reminded her of a man her brother had introduced her to. Severus Snape was a wealthy count, high in his position at court. It was last year she had laid eyes on him, before any of this boy business. She had hoped to find a respectable man around her age that she would one fall in love with, or at the very least share a bond.

He had swept into her house like he owned the place, immediately earning her distrust and dislike. His lips were contorted into a constant sneer that set Lily's teeth on edge.

She had hated him not from the moment he had entered her house, but when she sat down to tea with him. It was all about Snape, Snape, Snape, and then how he needed a trophy wife on his arm. When this topic of conversation had been reached, he had looked her up and down, giving one nod of satisfaction before calling for his carriage.

Many times after this he had called for her presence at his manor, but Lily had always been curiously sick. Charles had played along with this, despite the need to get her married and they had snickered many nights imagining the look on Snape's face when he opened their letter of decline.

He had even asked for her hand a month after they had met. Lily, however, had told him that she would think about it. That was a year ago.

Lily smirked.

If Benny and Arthur ever found out the truth… well, Snape would never be safe again.

She vaguely wondered whether the two boys she had grown so close to in so little time would keep her secret if she ever told them.

Lily shook this thought away. Even now she knew they wouldn't, even if it might put their own necks at risk. But Lily also knew she would never tell them. She would never take the opportunity to show them her red locks or her actual body shape or even talk normally with them. She was, in her own mind, too much of a coward to risk the potential bond between them.

Coward. Coward. Coward.

The word rang in Lily's mind as she fell asleep.

_Maybe, one day, _she thought wryly_, that is if, of course, I can keep it away from the rest of the ship._

**I'm also updating my other story, How it all Began, if anyone else wants to check it out. **

**Also, I'm wondering:**

**Who should find out about Lily?**

-Arthur

-Benny

-Mad-Eye

-All of the above

**Review to tell me who!**


	4. Chapter 4

Five years.

Five years ago Lady Lily Evans had put away her dresses and switched them for breeches.

She'd never thought they'd be so comfortable.

Now?

Many things had changed.

_The Ministry_, previously under the control of Cornelius Fudge, was now bound with Rufus Scrimgeour.

Lily was 22 years old.

She had also moved up in the ranks. She now spent most of her days in the crows nest playing lookout. It was a job that suited Lily perfectly. She didn't have to lug around much of the heavy cargo and not many people got a good look at her face, which had angled out over the years into one of a woman.

Mad-Eye had mysteriously retired two years ago, after what was a supposed row with the old captain, Fudge.

Arthur Weasley had also said his goodbyes three years ago after stopping at a port, he met a vibrant woman named Molly Prewett. In a recent letter, Lily knew they already had their first two children, William and Charlie (Lily was also flattered that they had named their second child after her, whether the name be false or not.).

Mary, her former maid back at home, had gotten married to Ethan, a manservant six months after Lily left. They had one baby girl, Claire, who was five in April.

Oh, and Benny and Arthur also knew about her... womanly features.

Lily couldn't help but smile at the memory, and she shifted a little so the top of her head was just poking out of the crowsnest.

She had known both Arthur and Benny for almost a year at that point. It was a Friday night, and for some reason, had decided to play tag in their cabin. Arthur really had no excuse, Lily thought wryly, he was nearing his twentieth birthday then.

"Come on, Charlie, take off the bandana!" Benny had shouted as he ran after her.

He and Arthur (just a little bit drunk) had been plowing through the endeavor of seeing Lily's -or Charlie's- hair free.

"No!" Lily had yelled back. One fatal mistake, and her world could come toppling down, "Just leave it Benny!"

But Arthur tackled her from behind and together, the three of them had fallen in a heap on the floor.

"Aha!" Benny yelled, pumping a fist in the air as Arthur cheered.

"Please don't," Lily begged, "Leave me alone!"

"Sorry, Char," Benny said mock somberly, "No can do."

"As part of the pact we made six months ago, we must reveal all identities. That includes the hair," Arthur stated robotically, chuckling at the end, "He made me say that," he jerked his head towards Benny.

"We made a pact?" Lily asked. This she did not remember. Then again, that was Benny for you. They probably didn't do it at all.

"Yes." Benny said at the said time Arthur said, "Apparently."

Lily shrugged and made to get up. Benny, however, noticed and pulled her back down so that she landed with an 'oophf'.

"Not so fast," he grinned, "Arthur, would you like to do the honors?"

"I most certainly would." Arthur placed a hand on Charlie's neck, and another on the top of his head.

"Ready?" he asked Benny.

Benny nodded, "On the count of three. One, two, THREE!"

The bandana came off with a flourish. Both boys stared in shock as the boy they formerly knew as Charlie had suddenly become very feminine, what with the longauburn locks that flowed down his- or her, now- back.

"Charlie?" Arthur managed to choke out.

"Yeah." Benny flinched at the high voice that Lily thought useless to hide now.

"You're a... _girl_," Benny said, disgusted, but then his expression suddenly cleared, "HA! I win the bet?"

Lily rolled her eyes. Three months ago, Lily had dared him to stop making moves on every girl they crossed at the ports they stopped at. Benny, cockily, had risen to the challenge, but found the habit very hard to break. It looked like Benny had finally found a girl he could not bear to flirt with.

"As lovely as that is," Arthur broke in, "I'd like to know why Charlie- if that's her name- got aboard this ship."

Lily looked at them fearfully, "My name isn't Charlie. It's Lily."

And then she spilled out everything that had been plaguing her for two years.  
>Lily once again grinned as she remembered how Benny had been horrified that LIly hadn't told them the truth from the beginning.<p>

Arthur, however, understood the need to keep it a secret, something that Lily had, many times, pointed out to Benny.

"Charlie!" she heard Benny call her "name" from the deck.

Even though Benny had long since accepted her secret, it was still necessary that he call her "Charlie" when they didn't have the privacy of their cabin.

Lily swung on the rope draped lazily over the side of the crowsnest and held onto it tightly as she jumped over the edge.

She grinned. Ever since finally getting the hang of rope-swinging, Lily never missed an opportunity to take advantage of it.

She landed lightly beside Benny who gave her a mild scolding.

"I don't like it when you do that, Lils," he whispered, "You look like you're going to fall."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Shove off and get used to it."

"That's not ladylike," Benny sung.

"My previous comment is repeated," Lily said dryly.

Benny flicked her on the arm, "The captain said to tell you to stay up in the crowsnest for the rest of today and tomorrow," benny lowered his voice, "He says there's been a pirate ship spotted around these areas. It hasn't been comfirmed whether or not it's _him_though."

Though Lily knew "him" was the notorious pirate captain, Tom Riddle, and that he was a matter not to be joked with, she tried to keep the atmosphere light anyway.

"You dragged me all the way down here to tell me to go back up?" she wacked him, "Thanks a lot."

Benny's concerned expression was wiped off his face, "Just being a good friend!" he said cheerfully, "Keep a sharp eye on the horizon." Winking at her, he skipped back to his job as a senior ship hand.

Lily shook her head, but climbed back up to her position.

The rest of the day was relatively boring, except when Benny had swung up around sunset for his hour off.

He had also brought some bread and jam for a late lunch, for which Lily had been thankful for.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, as she took her share from him, "I'm starving."

"No problem," he replied, taking a bite out of his sandwich, "Thought you might need it."

"I wonder how Arthur is doing," Benny said aloud after a few moments of silents.

"He has another one on the way, doesn't he?" Lily answered.

"Yeah. We're seeing him around OCtober again. Captain said we'll be stopping at the Burrow for some grain and rice."

"That'll be fun," Lily said enthusiastically, "I can't..."

She trailed off and stood up as a black dot was highlighted against the setting sun.

It was unmistakeably another ship.

Benny stood next to her and squinted, confused as to her pause.

"Ah," Benny said softly.

"Get the captain," Lily ordered, "Quickly."

Normally, Benny would have made a jab about her ordering him around, but now he just nodded and hurried down.

Lily, leaned forward, straining her eyes to catch sight of the flag.

She frowned as she realized she could not get sight of the colours because of the light the sun cast on them.

It seemed they would just have to wait.

Captain James Potter stood by the bow of his ship, _The Marauder_.

His first mate, Sirius Black leaned on the railing in front of him, grinning excitedly.

"That's a merchant ship, " Sirius pointed out unnecessarily, "I bet there's loads of loot on that."

"You don't say," James replied sarcastically.

"Don't get lippy with me, Jimmy," Sirius sung.

"I'm the captain," James stated, "i can do whatever I want."

"Ah, yes, but I"m the best mate of our esteemed captain," Sirius nudged him, "So can I."

"If you want to raid this ship, I'd suggest you two stop getting distracted," the dry, friendly voice of Remus Lupin, second mate appeared behind them and James and Sirius turned around quickly as if they were small children being caught in an act of mischief.

"Us?" James questioned innocently, spreading out his fingers in front of him, "Distracted? Never."

"Right," Remus dragged out the word sarcastically.

"He's right though," Sirius interrupted, bouncing on his heels, "We do need to get going."

James and Remus stared at him, "When did you grow up?" James asked disgustedly.

"By growing up, I'm assuming you mean the maturity of a five year old. He's never going to grow up." Remus put in.

"True," James conceded.

"Yes, yes, we can discuss this later," Sirius pushed past them hurriedly, "Get on with captain-y stuff, James.

Rolling his eyes, James readied himself to give the order that would possibly change lives.

"Alright you dogs!" he yelled at his crew, "Get to work! Hoist the colours! Get the cannons ready!"

His crew sped around, Remus deserted him as he strode forwards to do his own job.  
>James walked back towards the wheel where he tried to get a good look at the ship.<br>It must have been easier to look through his way, as the sun was not as blinding. He doubted the other ship could tell if they were pirates or not.  
>Taking out his telescope, he peered through the hole, managing to spot two lone figures sitting on the edge of the crowsnest. They were both laughing and eating something that James couldn't discern.<br>Suddenly, the smaller figure stood stock still and James could tell he had seen them. He chuckled as the taller figure hurried down the ropes clumsily. James blindly reached out to turn the wheel so they would approach the ship faster.  
>Soon, there would be war<p>

Lily watched from her post as the ship got closer, suddenly taking on a more urgent speed.

"Jones!" The captain was shouting from below, "How far 'till they reach us?"

Lily bit her lip, "About twenty minutes, sir. Maybe less," she called down.

The captain nodded and turned to give an order to the men, "Be ready for defense, but don't set anything up." He turned back to look up at Lily, "When you see their flag, shout down to us immediately."

"Will do, sir," she scanned the ship. Faintly, she could see one tall silhouette, obviously a male. It seemed like he was the only one standing still, so he must have some standing in authority.

Suddenly, there was a dimming of the sun and Lily caught sight of their flag.

"Sir!" she shouted down, "Their flag… they're pirates!"

**I fixed the spacing issues!**

**Also, if any of you have read How it all Began, my other L/J HP fic, you'll know that there is a contest going on for my reviewers.**

**So, whoever can enter the funniest review, whether it be a cheesy pickup line, or an old joke, or something plain funny, gets a one-shot about whatever they like.**

**So,**

**REVIEW**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! Wow, 41 reviews! Thank you guys so much! So, the Marauders get a bit of action in this, and there's a big plot thingy in this chapter. By the way, I have finals all tomorrow (Friday) and next week.**

**Also, I probably won't be updating for a while since on June 22nd****I'm going off to England (my home country) to visit my family and I won't be back for another month, at least.**

**So, if you want me to update before I go, I'm really going to have to get a wave of reviews!**

_**Chapter 4**_

_**You Can't Kill a Woman**_

The ship was silent.

Every man was watching forlornly as the ship drew closer with each passing second. There were some positioned at cannons, waiting for the order to fire, some with pistols and swords, waiting for the cannons to fail.

From the crowsnest, Lily could see Benny, swallowing nervously and muttering something that looked like words of comfort to a young boy, a new recruit, next to him.

Benny glanced up at her and saw her watching. She smiled weakly at him and turned away.

Lily knew they could not win this. They were pirates. And pirates never lost.

"How much time do we have, Jones?" the captain yelled across the ship.

"Five minutes, captain," Lily shouted back. _Maybe less,_ she added in her head.

"Fire the warning shot," Scrimgeour ordered the nearest ship-hand. He nodded and tapped the man who had the clearest shot on the shoulder and told him what to do.

(

A loud _boom_ and everyone stopped talking.

James raised his eyebrows at the ship across the stretch of ocean. They obviously didn't want to get into a fight, and they were, from what he could see, just merchant ships. Nothing special.

But the crew was running out of supplies, and even a few pieces of bread would be welcomed.

James also planned to take captive a few ship-hands. After a tough storm last week, they were also in need of a few replacements and James didn't want to go through the havoc of sign-ups.

James smirked as another cannon ball was fired towards them.

A mistake, by the looks of it.

Another tug at the wheel and the ship was urged to even greater speeds.

Not long now…

(

Lily cursed as an inexperienced sailor accidentally shot out another cannon.

_Honestly_, she thought, _men really are a bunch of idiots._

She glanced at the approaching ship.

It was getting faster now.

Great.

She cursed again.

The aggravated and nervous sailors on the deck would only have about two minutes now to compose themselves.

A low grunt below her made her whip around.

Benny was climbing the rope that lead to the crowsnest, a pistol in one hand, making his way up a deal harder than it was supposed to be.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Benny hauled himself over the ledge.

"I'm not leaving your side until this is over with," he told her.

She stared at him and shook her head, "You're mad."

"Only because I was driven crazy be you," Benny countered, checking his pistol to make sure it was loaded.

Lily grinned and shoved him in the stomach.

"That's good enough for me."

(

It wasn't the first fight Lily had ever been in, but it was certainly the bloodiest. Lily had expected that too. They were pirates, for Christ's sake!

Benny, true to his word, had not left her side for the ten minutes since it had started. He aimed down at enemy with his gun, but it was too far of a distance to get a decent shot.

Lily grabbed her sword from her belt, waved goodbye to Benny, and slid down to meet with a pirate who was fiercely attacking Caradoc.

The pirate, she noticed, was not the average smelly, drunken, sea thief, but he was rather well kept. He had elegant black hair that flowed into his eyes, and the eyes themselves were a stormy grey. She couldn't help but take note of the partially bare chest, which looked quite… nice from where she was standing.

_It was a shame though_, Lily thought as she swung her sword towards his stomach, _If he wasn't a pirate, I'd marry him over Snape any day._

Suddenly, Lily got lucky. She wasn't a good swordsman, Benny, Sturgis, and Caradoc were all better than her. The only way she managed to keep her job was to be an excellent lookout. Lily could tell this pirate was an expert at sword fighting, and she also knew she had not a chance of winning.

The she had managed to slip through the man's defenses and give him a good slash on his stomach.

She smirked.

"Why you little…" the man didn't get to finish his sentence, and neither did he get to cut her to pieces like his sword suggested.

Instead, Lily, taking advantage of his distraction, rammed the man's temple with the butt of her sword.

"Very nice," Benny complimented her from behind.

"Why thank you very much," she turned to face him.

"Shall we?" he gestured to the other pirates defeating their crew.

"We shall," she sighed, "What would they do without us?"

Together, they both jumped into the sea of bodies, fighting for their lives.

Lily took on a sandy-haired pirate.

_Damn,_ she thought, _Where's the captain getting all these gorgeous pirates? I'd like to go there._

Lily grinned cheesily at the pirate, and was surprised when he smiled back and gestured for her to go first.

She shrugged and made a sudden slashing cut to his head.

He parried it.

Then the fight truly began.

(

James hurried along the small corridors of _The Ministry_ with Amos Diggory, Edgar Bones, Fabian and Gideon Prewett.

Their job was to raid the rooms of anything valuable. Then, James would make his way to the captain's quarters, raid that, kill the captain, and then recruit one or two men to board his ship.

Simple, quick, and easy.

"Split up," he ordered his men, "Then meet back here in ten minutes, you got that?"

The pirates nodded and scurried off to separate rooms.

James, however, turned around, intending to search a cabin himself, then rush off to the captain's quarters.

He paused at the first door in the hallway, then pushed through it.

It was small, with a single bed with three levels. The first level, surprisingly, was completely empty except for a couple of letters. The second was messier, but the bed was made and there was a rucksack at the end of it. The third looked like there had been a storm up there. Covers were dangling over the edge of the bed, pillows were strewn across it, and items were just spread across it.

James walked over and picked up the letter.

_Benny and Charlie,_

_Life at the burrow could never be better._

_Molly is brilliant, and still an excellent cook (she sends her love, by the way), Charlie and Bill are as mischievous as ever. Just yesterday, they brought home a stray dog and tried to hide in their room. They begged us to keep it when we finally wondered why the upstairs was barking. We, of course, said no, but you know how persuasive those boys can be._

_Its name is Benny, after their dear 'uncle'._

_Molly also says that you should send in your requests for dinner the next time you come._

_She knows Lily likes the tarts she cooks, but Benny prefers cake and turkey. She also adds that if you, Benny, pass anymore bad habits onto our children, you're a dead man._

_By the way, send note if you come across Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Molly's brothers, at sea. Molly says they've been gone for months now, and she's quite worried._

_I'm missing you all, as cheesy at that sounds. I hope you tell Caradoc and Stugis 'hi'._

_-Arthur_

James took a look at the second letter.

_Mary,_

_I'm so jealous of you!_

_It seems you're getting the perfect fairytale. Perfect husband, perfect daughter, perfect house, and pregnant again!_

_How are Claire and Ethan?_

_I'm so pleased you named me Claire's godmother. She's a wonderful child, and I know that she'll go far, even if she hates the sea!_

_Good Lord, if I ever become a pirate- God forbid- make sure she stays away from me. Don't think I didn't hear her last time:_

"_Stinky, smelly, rotten pirates!"_

_She's adorable, but I think she just might claw my eyes out._

_Tell Ethan to take a bath._

_Love,_

_Lily_

The letter didn't look sent or opened, so James assumed it was probably written in the past couple aboard the ship.

But that didn't make sense-

The name, _Lily,_ it couldn't possibly be a man.

So there was a woman on the ship. Fun.

But then James went back to the previous letter. There was something that just didn't sound right.

James frowned at 'Gideon and Fabian Prewett'. They were men on his ship. But now that the letter mentioned it, he recalled the twins telling Sirius and Remus that they had a sister, Molly.

He tucked the letter into his pocket to show the pair later.

Next, he looked through the rucksack on the second bed. There was small portrait of a family, two daughters, a son, and the parents, a hankerchief, which James thought weird for a boy to keep, and some clothes. Nothing really of importance, but he stole the portrait and the hankerchief anyway. The hankerchief could easily be sold in a port to a lady… but the portrait couldn't be sold. He just had a feeling he might need it someday.

James didn't bother to look at the top bunk, as he could already see he was quickly running out of time.

Tucking the acquired objects into his jacket, he exited the room and ran strode confidently towards the captain's quarters.

(

Lily, though in a position of great danger, was actually enjoying the fight with the sandy haired pirate.

He wasn't a great swordsman, but neither was she. The only way she managed to overcome Sirius was because she had got in the lucky slash to his stomach.

However, she had a feeling this man was merely playing with her for the time being.

This was going to be difficult.

(

James disarmed the captain easily. He was a good fighter, but no match against a pirate. Shaking his head in mock sorrow, James bent down to give the captain a good kick in the head.

It wouldn't do if he started shouting out plans to his crew when James took him out as proof that they had to surrender.

James sighed as he stooped to swing the body of the other captain over his shoulder. Merchant captains these days were always overweight.

James stepped out onto the deck displaying the captain for everyone to see, "Surrender! You've lost your captain and my crew out number you."

This, actually, wasn't true at the moment, but James could see that the crew were inexperienced fighters and their numbers were dwindling fast.

There was a moment of silence… but, wait…

Somebody was still fighting.

They were far down in the deck, and James recognized one of the men of his own, Remus Lupin.

(

Lily wasn't aware that anything had stopped. It was just her and the man.

She decided she wanted to know his name. It was uncomfortable fighting to the death with someone she didn't know the name of.

"What's your name?" she yelled suddenly, ducking a swift slash of the sword.

"Remus Lupin," he looked faintly amused as he parried a blow, "Yours?"

"Charlie Jones," she replied, grinning, "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Lupin."

"The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Jones," Remus retorted.

And the fight went on.

It was only when Remus looked behind her shoulder and noticed something that he stopped with the games.

He immediately turned offense, directing a surge of blows towards Lily that she desperately blocked and ducked.

But it was no use. Her sword leaped out of her hand and into the man's and she was left standing with two swords at her throat.

Remus should've known better. Lily ducked and knocked the knives out of his hand with the dagger Charles gave her five years ago.

A couple more strokes and the situation was reversed. Lily smirked… A smirk that slowly faded when another sword was pointed at her back.

"I suggest you give up now," a man's voice drawled behind her, "You're welcome to join the rest of your shipmates."

Lily, though reluctantly, dropped her weapon in the deck. The sword poked her in the shoulder gently to turn her around.

The sight she met was a ghastly one.

The whole crew, including Benny, were on their knees, a group of pirates nearby taking turns to poke guns in their faces.

James shoved her towards the line. The message was clear: get in the line and don't struggle.

Lily stood next to Benny, strong and resolutely.

"Now that all are present," James continued, "I think that introductions are in order. I am Captain James Potter, and I am commander of _The Marauder._ I have room for one of you scallywags to join my… delightful crew. Who will step forward and become a pirate?"

Nobody moved.

"Anybody?" James raised his eyebrows, "Well I guess you'll all have to die."

_Oh no you don't,_ Benny thought angrily.

He pushed Lily to the floor, also tugging on the ends of her bandana, the only thing standing in the way of the mass of red hair.

There was a stunned silence.

There, before them, was a woman. A beautiful one at that too, some men noticed.

Nonetheless, it was a woman, in a man's breeches, on a man's ship, taking under a man's position.

James looked at the woman, and the boy that had pushed her.

A couple, maybe?

He obviously cared about her.

James thought about his earlier threat.

_You can't kill a woman._

**Ooooh, that's something major, right there. So, whadya think? Good, bad…**

**I just want REVIEWS!**

**Also-**

Don't be a drag just be a queen

Whether you're broke or evergreen

You're black, white, beige, chola descent

You're Lebanese, you're orient

Whether life's disabilities

Left you outcast bullied or teased

Rejoice and love yourself today

Cuz baby, you were born this way

**Me and my friend do this rap all the time.**

**THE COMPETITION'S STILL GOING ON UNTIL THIS STORY ENDS!**

**Like I just said, enter anything funny! Like a funny quote, I got a few pick-up lines, something you did that totally embarrassed you, or something completely random!**

**Elephants are so smart they can remember a water-hole they went to thirty years ago.**

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Update 6/3/13- A new chapter will be up soon, it's in progress, I'm just editing at the moment!


	6. Chapter 6

**Check me out! New chapter!**

**If you haven't done so already, reread the 1****st****, 2****nd****, and 4****th**** chapters. Especially the 1****st,**** I've made loads of changes on each of those chapters.**

**Right. Where were we? Chapter six? Wow…**

Lily lay sprawled on the deck, her head down, red curls cascading around her. She stared in shock at the wooden planks before blinking several times and hauling herself up.

She looked round to find the rest of her crew staring at her with their mouths open, while the pirate invaders simply looked on in growing interest. Running a hand through her disheveled hair, Lily nodded to herself a few times, pacing back and forth a few steps.

"Well, you see – " she cut off suddenly with a shake of her head and continued pacing.

"What I mean to say is – " she stopped again and looked hopelessly around her. "Bugger me, I got nothing."

She backed up a few steps and faced her crew with a determined expression. "I am a woman," Lily announced, "I have long hair, curves, all that woman stuff… and you never really noticed." she paused for a few seconds in deep thought, "You know what? I am ashamed of you. Five years upon this ship and nobody cared, whoop-de-doo! I feel it is my obligation, being offended as I am, therefore, to go… that way." She pointed to the nearest exit and made a run for it, thinking maybe if she got on a dingy and started rowing away, they'd just forget about her.

"Oi, not so fast!" James Potter leapt forward, grabbing her wrist and dragging her back to the centre of the ship, "This is you isn't it?" He pulled out the portrait he had found on the second bed, when he had been searching.

Lily, who had been pouting and rubbing her wrist, stopped for a moment and bent down to examine the small likeness of her and her family. She rolled her eyes, "How'd ya guess? Was it the nose?"

James ignored her studiously and looked again at the portrait, "I can't help feeling I've seen this before…" he murmured.

"Hey, uh, Captain?" Sirius called meekly from where he was guarding the long line of _The Ministry's _crew, "I do believe earlier you said we were on a tight schedule," he hinted, "… not to mention even _I'm _feeling rather pathetic watching these lot groan on their knees."

But James, who had hardly been listening, was still staring at the portrait as a large grin started to grow on his face, "Boys?" he drawled, "Hoist the colours… Lady Lily Evans is coming with us."

* * *

><p>"… Reason number nine why you should not take me with you is that I tend to eat a rather large amount of food and by the time I am done, there will simply not be enough left for the rest of your crew… and I would hate for those muscles to waste away, if ya get me… reason ten is that I shall be leaving behind my writing stationary, and I cannot function without writing a letter to my dear – "<p>

"One more word out of you and we'll just drown you instead," James snapped, turning around sharply to glare at the chattering red head, who was being dragged towards one of the planks that lead to the deck of _The Marauder. _He shoved her towards it non too gently and she stumbled slightly before regaining her footing and, grumbling under her breath, stomped towards the enemy ship.

"Welcome aboard, milady," Remus Lupin greeted her cheerfully as she jumped down.

Lily turned to glare menacingly at him, hands on hips, and said snidely, "I fail to see much of a welcome so far. A plate of bread and cheese would be _most_ welcome and a tour of my unfortunate and forced new accomodation would also not go amiss…" Lupin raised an eyebrow and Lily childishly mocked him, "Well, chop, chop… what are you waiting for?"

"Generally speaking, waiting for the captain is the protocol," a dry voice said behind them and they turned to look as James swung himself impressively over the railing, landing with a cocky smirk directed at Lily.

Of course, this gave Lily a most wonderful chance to survey her captor. Her eyes drank him in appreciatively, taking in his dark hazel eyes and sharp cheek bones along with his raven black mop of hair. His shoulders were quite broad and he was tall, almost as tall as wiry, bean pole Arthur. And his abdomen… Lily could very happily stare at his lean muscles peaking from behind his loose tunic all day. Good lord, she thought dumbfounded, where have all these handsome men come from? If they'd have lived in my town, I never would have left!

Shaking herself from these thoughts, she quickly retorted, "And since when have you ever followed protocol in the short time I've know you?"

James grinned wickedly, "Perhaps you'll just have to get to know me… when you're scrubbing the deck for me tomorrow."

Lily glowered at him, "If you want any decent ransom off my brother, you'd want to return me in pristine condition."

James shrugged, "I've never really gone for decent me… and if that ransom is as much as it said on that "Missing" poster, well, a bit off that won't make no difference to me… s'long as it's still in the thousands."

Lily couldn't believe her ears. A bunch of pirates… taking her home… for Charles' "ransom" money. Well, crap, she thought, annoyed. There _is _no ransom, it was only for show! … and it would cause an awful lot of bother to run away again and join another crew… Unless…

"Well, oh mighty captain," she started grinning sweetly, "Surely sailing all the way to my home town would take you miles out of your way of pillaging and whatever you pirates like to do in your spare time, so why not just let me go on my own way? Just give me a little rowing boat and a few bananas and I'll hop to it! Send my your address and you'll have the money by the return of post in no time!"

Remus snorted quietly behind them as James raised an eyebrow, "I'm not gullible or stupid, and you'd have to be joking if you think I'd believe a word of what you say. Now, by the looks of things, you seem to have run away without breathing a word, leaving your brother to believe you were kidnapped. While you were on a lovely little adventure with your lovely little friends, he offered a great deal of money to anybody who could bring his darling sister back… and I would very much like that great deal of money, milady, whether you care to go back or not. It's a win win situation as far as I'm concerned." He seemed pleased and almost waited cheerfully for the response he knew was coming.

"Except for me," Lily grumbled, "And I was having such a good time as well…" she said wistfully.

"Nothing gold can stay," James said sagely, nodding, "Now, Mr Lupin will show you to your very special guest cabin and I will be round in the morning, ready to introduce you to your new friends; bucket and mop." He smirked and said conspiratorially to her, "If I were you, I'd savour the little rest you have tonight, because if we are going out of our way for you, we most certainly want to make it worthwhile." He glanced at the rapidly setting sun.

He strolled off to the Captain's quarters with a very obvious swagger as Lily stared after him in slight awe and disgust.

"I don't think I've ever met someone more arrogant and self-centered in my life," she murmered thoughtfully. "It really is quite a skill."

"He wasn't that bad," Remus defended weakly. At Lily's dumbfounded stare, he crumbled a bit and admitted, "Okay, he was pretty bad… but he's a nice guy once you get to know him!"

Lily raised an eyebrow, "I don't want to get to know him, thank you very much." And, on a side, she added under her breath, "Conceited toerag."

Remus snorted again, "Come on, this way."

* * *

><p>Lily stared incredulously at her new room, "Extra special guest room?" she asked herself in disbelief, "Think again, Captain Toerag."<p>

It was a cupboard.

A stinking cupboard under the stairs.

UNDER THE STAIRS.

Lily stretched her arms out to rest on either side of the wall and shook her head glumly. "Bloody hell…"

She plunked herself down on the meagre pile of straw that served as her mattress… and also smelt slightly of cheese she thought now that her nose was nearer to it.

Slowly, a wicked grin took the place of the frown that had resided there, After all, she thought, it's not like I'm staying here forever… or even a few hours, if all went to plan.

She rested her head against the wall, closed her eyes... and waited.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, James was pacing his cabin, his brow furrowed and thinking deeply.<p>

He growled under his breath as all train of thought ground to a halt at the memory of a certain redhead. He'd never known anyone get under his skin so fast as she did. It had only been a few hours and yet she already danced around in his mind with her cheeky grins and her sly comments.

Perhaps it was the way her emerald eyes flashed beguilingly as he unwittingly let a sarcastic remark slip or how she so easily wound him up with a quick quirk of her eyebrow and a few words.

She was definitely something else and maybe he would've kept her around if it weren't for the guaranteed ten thousand pieces of gold upon her return. He drooled slightly at the thought of so much money at one time and he knew this was an opportunity his crew couldn't miss.

He paused a moment and glanced at the door… he almost wanted to visit the girl, see her reaction to her new room… Surely a lady of any standing would squirm at the sight? And he was certain one or two rats liked to frequent there… yes, that would entertain him for sure.

James found himself himself grinning eagerly at the prospect of another confrontation and started to make his way to his brand new guest.

* * *

><p>Lily peeked her head round the corner of one of the masts. The deck was almost entirely empty in the middle of the night, bar the old man dozing at the helm. Her eyes scanned the railing until they landed on what she was looking for.<p>

"Bingo," she whispered gleefully and crept over to the side of the ship, where the dingy was being propped against.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, she started to shift it so that it was delicately balancing on the railing, waiting to be lowered in with a long coil of rope. Grabbing hold of that next, she had almost started to heave until a loud shout made her jump and the small boat clattered to the deck with a loud bang.

"Hey! You there!" It was the captain running towards her, his eyes narrowed angrily as he took in the sight of her trying to escape.

Lily squeaked loudly and flailed about for a moment before tossing the rope aside and climbing onto the railing. She looked dubiously at the tossing waters below and then again at the stormy captain who was almost beside her.

"Sod it," she muttered and dove in, meeting the freezing sea head first.

James watched in disbelief as his captive, _his _captive threw herself off the ship. He reached the railing and leaned against it, searching the waters desperately for a flash of red. The loud noise of the rowboat had awakened much of his crew, who were gathered around him, watching the scene.

"Well?" he asked angrily, spinning round to face them, "Go get her! That's ten thousand pieces of gold that just dove into the sea!"

"Can't we just let her drown?" Sirius complained loudly.

"No," James barked, "Get to it."

"But she was _so _annoying…"

Remus rolled his eyes and fetched a long piece of rope and quickly tossed it to James, who pouted, "Do _I _have to save her?"

"You brought her on board," Remus shrugged. James sighed and glanced out to sea, searching for the lost girl. He had to do a double take and he gaped at the small red dot bobbing along with the tide.

"She's _swimming away_," he said incredulously, "My God, how is she still alive?"

* * *

><p>"It's cold, it's really cold, it's <em>really <em>cold," Lily panted as she came up for air. So far, she was quite proud of the progress she had made. The ship, at least, seemed to be getting further away.

Taking a few more deep breaths, Lily prepared herself to start swimming against the waves again. Her arm reached forward to drag herself forward when –

"AHHHHH!" She screamed as a hand enclosed her ankle and pulled her backwards. She kicked out feverishly, her mind chanting _sea monster, sea monster_, until a sharp yelp drew her attention behind her.

"Do you mind?" A very disgruntled captain-of-the-ship-she-was-trying-to-escape was rubbing his nose as he eyed her foot with caution.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Lily yelled at him.

"I'm sorry," he said loudly and sarcastically over the crashing of the waves, "Please, forgive me for trying to save your life!"

"Save my –" Lily spluttered, "I don't need saving! I am perfectly fine where I am thank you very much!"

James scrutinized her face, taking in the mangled mat of hair and her lips, which were at that moment turning a very interesting shade of blue.

"Yeah, okay," he said unconvincingly, "And where do you plan to go after this?"

"That's none of your business," Lily snottily held her nose up in the air, talking through chattering teeth.

James rolled his eyes, "This is ridiculous," he muttered, and he pulled Lily towards him in one smooth movement, trapping her under his arm as the other steadily started smooth swimming strokes in the direction of the boat.

"Hey!" Lily cried indignantly and she started struggling vehemently against him, managing to kick James in the stomach. He grunted in pain and after a moments consideration, he adjusted her position so that the next wave flew right in her face. She started spluttering and coughing and James grinned as the kicking stopped straight away.

As they reached the ship, the rope around James' waist assisted them in climbing up the side and togther they stumbled onto the deck and promptly collapsed in a heap.

"You sodding toerag," Lily gasped between breaths.

"I saved your bloody life, you ungrateful little princess," James panted back, "Some gratitude would not go amiss."

Lily struggled to her knees, "Who the hell do you think you are anyway? Ordering people around, acting like you're the king!"

James glared at her climbed to his feet, "I am captain of this ship, something I think you'd better get into your thick skull."

"Oh?" Lily snarled, "Well, newsflash, Captain What's-your-face, I'm not one of your crew!"

"I am Captain James Potter and while you are on my ship, you follow my rules, part of the crew or no!" he roared, "There's a reason I'm a pirate, you spoiled wench, and unless you want to keep all your limbs intact, I suggest that you keep that big mouth of yours to yourself, am I understood?!"

He stormed past her, a manic glint in his eye and turned to Remus, "And next time she decides to throw herself off the ship, you can save her at your leisure, because I will be hoping she drowns!"

Lily glared menacingly at his back, "We'll see."

* * *

><p><strong>I am actually so proud I updated, whadya think? Review!<strong>

**Oh, and me and my friend are starting a music cover channel on Youtube called FABofficial1 and we've also got a twitter page FABofficial, if you check us out or follow us it'd mean a great deal, and you can tell me if you're reading this story. Basically, we're posting videos of music tutorials, pop covers, the like!**

_**This chapter was wrought with references... Can you spot any?**_

**We need ideas for songs to cover! Suggestions are VERY welcome!**

**Thanks so much for sticking with this story, I know I've been a right pain! **


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